Test Driving the Tesla Model S in New Jersey
What it feels like to drive in the future (hint: it’s awesome!).
After a year and a half of being a Tesla Motors shareholder, and feeling my heart beat fast whenever I see a Model S on the road, I finally got behind the wheel of one on Tuesday at the Garden State Plaza mall in Paramus, NJ. It was just in time too, because of the recent New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission vote to ban Tesla gets enforced in April, Tesla will no longer be able to sell directly from their two stores in New Jersey, and Tesla will no longer be able to give test drives from these locations. I think it is important to share the story of my test drive because NJMVC’s vote to ban Tesla from selling directly from the store will deprive the consumer of one amazing experience.
I’ve been to the Tesla store at Garden State Plaza a few times, I’ve sat in the car and chatted with knowledgeable product specialists, I’ve listened to the quarterly results and shareholder meetings, and I really thought I knew all there was to know about the vehicle and the company. But there is a lot to learn from a test drive, from actually experiencing the car in motion and on the open roads.
After arriving at the store with my husband and my mother, we were greeted with a friendly handshake and almost immediately we were walking to the parking garage where our vehicle was waiting. The product specialist unplugged the car and we piled in, though first I asked him to open the ‘frunk’ so I could stow my winter jacket in there during the ride. After all, why not? It’s wild to open up the hood and find no engine in there, and instead loads of storage space! I drove the white car seen at left, which is actually the 60kWh model (0-60 in 5.9 seconds) not the 85kWh model (0-60 in 5.4 or 4.2 with the Performance option).
Once in the car, the product specialist walked us through all the customizable options within the car’s settings, from the different driver profiles to the sound system settings to the heated seats (even the back seats with the cold weather package!) and also settings like having the car unlock as you walk up to it and lock itself as you walk away from it, so you don’t have to click on the FOB remote or worry whether or not you locked your car. You also don’t turn a key OR press start, the car is smart enough to know to turn on when you get into it. Very clever. You can warm it up or cool it down through an iPhone app in advance so it’s comfortable and ready for you when you get inside. I can definitely see the benefit of that having just gotten through a long, frozen winter!
I was a little nervous at the wheel of my dream car, and I went into the drive with extremely high expectations. So with a deep breath, and with ‘Gimme Shelter’ by The Rolling Stones playing on the stereo, I adjusted my seat and mirrors and put the car in drive. It handled the tight turns of the parking garage without a problem and before I knew it I was zooming effortlessly up to 50mph on Route 4.
The car drives smoothly, quietly and powerfully. The smooth ride I can liken to the difference between a video shot on a shaky hand held camera and the same shot with a steadicam. The quietness is striking, no roar of the engine as it gets up to speed and no yelling to be heard by someone in the back seat. And the power — wow. Even though we were driving the most modest Model S you can buy, the car practically flew. Putting my foot down on the pedal and passing a truck on a hill never felt so good — the Tesla performed like magic. Every time to you take your foot off the accelerator or apply the brake or drive downhill, the Tesla recharges itself with regenerative braking so you actually extend your range in these conditions, and you are able to see a graph in the dash display charting your energy use as your are driving. If my Dad was still alive I know he would have loved maximizing the Tesla’s range this way — he loved statistics and eking out as much efficiency as he could from his gasoline-powered cars, as if it were some sort of game.
The more I drove the car the more I got the feel of what it could do, and although I drove it conservatively (since that’s the way I drive my 4-cylinder Honda Accord), when I pushed the Tesla to change lanes or accelerate through a turn, it blew my mind! I was concerned that the car would be so fast that I’d have trouble holding it back from speeding but in reality those concerns were unfounded — it just coasted! It would be a dream to drive on a long road trip, especially one with lots of hills and turns! On that note, the driver’s seat was so comfortable and my Mom and my husband were very comfortable as passengers in the back seats too! It’s such a roomy cabin since there is no transmission driveshaft or exhaust system running down the center of the car.
After the drive which sadly had to come to an end, we went back to the Tesla store and sat down with a few glasses of water while we designed our ideal 85kWh Model S in the gorgeous dark green color, and it was great to talk through each option with the product specialist to really determine which accessories are genuinely important to pay for (like the Tech package) and which add-ons aren’t worth it or applicable to our needs. So all priced out, the car we designed came to $90,000 but there’s a $7,500 tax credit to bring it down to $82,500, and then of course the savings in gasoline/petrol over the years. There was no hard sell or pressure to put down a deposit (which we did not do), and once the car was designed we bought a few quality Tesla t-shirts, made in the USA just like the car, and were on our way.
Driving home in the loud, slow Honda Accord on bumpy roads was pretty painful in comparison to driving in the Tesla. My husband joked that it felt like we’d regressed 20 years and boy was he right! I’m so impressed with the whole Tesla experience, the store, the drive, and it feels great to own a small slice of such a game-changing, revolutionary company. Our next car will be a Tesla, and likely the more affordable Model E that comes out in 2017, but in the meantime I will enjoy the Tesla I do own (my t-shirt) and we will work hard to be able to afford the Model S anyway. Just imagine never paying for gas again! Imagine never smelling exhaust again! That’s the future I want to live in. What a fantastic company and what a feat of American engineering and design. If you get the opportunity, I highly recommend a test drive.
